Paris and Dublin and Barcelona and Venezia!

It's been a while, but all of that can be explained. We packed up and left Roma on April 5, and my four roommates and myself moved all of our possessions one last time - this time, to Venice, or Venezia as it should be called (why does English Anglicize everything?). But we stayed in Venezia only long enough to set down our things, and then we embarked on a whirlwind tour that the words "spring break" just don't seem to describe well enough.

First, we agreed that we all must go to Paris. For me, I knew that if I came to Europe, Italia was the first place I needed to go. I needed to see and understand and learn from all of the different places in Italia. But then, I knew that I needed to go to Paris. And Paris, as it turns out, was also far beyond anything I could have imagined.


Everything in Paris was so strikingly beautiful, but in such a specifically Parisian way - from the arches of Notre Dame to the stained glass of Sainte Chappelle to the decadence of Versailles to the Eiffel Tower putting on a sparkling light show each night on the hour to the artsy charm of Montemarte. Everyone told us we would want more time in Paris, and even though we had more than four days in the city, everyone was absolutely right. Paris seemed like a place where you want to move slowly, blend and become a part of the city to experience it best. Even though I know only a few phrases in French, I loved practicing - and quite frequently, people totally believed my act. Even when a local realized my poor language skills, they were still very kind to me for at least giving an attempt. I think French will be the next language I learn.

Next, we were off to Dublin, where it was extremely strange to use our native language in social settings again. However, signs and notices in Ireland are written in both English and Irish, which I found incredibly cool. The Irish are working to preserve their language, which was faltering after years of English influence. But we heard quite a bit of Irish during our short time in the country, which was awesome. We spent our first day in Dublin, and of course experienced pub culture at its finest. As a Finnish friend explained to me, a "pub" is supposed to be a "PUBlic house," and in Ireland, that is exactly how all of the pubs feel. There are a million, each as cozy and welcoming and lively as the next, and they truly feel as though you are stepping into someone's home for a few hours. There are usually couches and small tables and people making conversation, and you go in to socialize and talk to the people in the pub and get to know them and share stories and enjoy great live music - and this is happening every night! It was hard to process how different this was from American bar culture, and I loved getting to meet and chat with new people and to appreciate great musicians at every establishment we went into. You feel at home, a guest in someone's public house for a short while, and I think this was the best sort of entertainment I've stumbled upon so far in Europe.

While in Ireland, we went on a special bus tour of the countryside. For two days, we drove through several counties and encountered small villages (such as Cong, the home of a gorgeous forest full of trails and the setting of a John Wayne film), breathtaking countryside (as in Connemara and the surrounding lakes region), and the Cliffs of Moher. We stopped in Galway on the first day and stayed there overnight, which is a smaller city with some of the most famous pub life in Ireland. Here my roommate and I watched college student musicians put on a few sets, and then relocated to a different pub where traditional musicians were playing to accompany Irish dancers.

Traveling through that countryside was beyond beautiful - the mountains, the lakes, the cliffs, the sea. I wanted to get out and somehow embrace that land, if it were in any way possible. On the way, we learned about both the joyous and the tragic aspects of Irish history - especially about English occupation and the famine. Passing by famine shacks was a moving reminder of what widespread poverty can do to a people. But the people would never touch a stone of those shacks - they are a constant memorial to those who suffered, a constant reminder of the strength of the Irish spirit, and a preventative warning to never let something like that happen again.

Our last stop was Barcelona, Spain, where the Spanish culture and Spanish weather were equally as fun. After freezing in Paris and Dublin, a little sunshine in Barcelona was exactly what we needed. We spent a whirlwind day touring all of the crazy, imaginative Gaudi architecture that makes Barcelona so unique, and then we went to Barceloneta beach to relax before heading out for a Flamenco show. At the show, we saw traditional Spanish flamenco dancing, singing, and clapping, which was extremely intense and incredibly beautiful. Afterward, we went out for tappas and sangria, or Spanish aperitivo as I like to think of it. Travel-worn and beautifully happy, we returned to Venezia with plenty of experiences to ponder and reminisce upon.

Now we are gearing up for our last few weeks in Italia. Here in Venezia, the weather is absolutely beautiful, and we spend each day exploring a different part of the islands. Surprisingly, tourists stick to just a few main attractions here and totally miss the most beautiful, haunting, hidden parts of Venice as she sits in puddles of the most elegant decay. I don't want to say too much more about Venezia yet, though - we'll leave that for next time. ;)